PITCHSIDE My Life in Indian Cricket by Amrit Mathur WESTLAND ₹699; 346 pages
Over the past year, the cricket boards of India and Pakistan have sparred endlessly: over India's participation in the Asia Cup and Pakistan's in the World Cup, creating an impression that the two countries have never been in sync where cricket relations are concerned. However, this is far removed from fact. True, there have been long and intense periods of dissonance, but these have been interspersed with several occasions of bonhomie and a deep spirit of accommodation for mutual benefit.
In fact, the three times the World Cup has been played in the subcontinent-1987, 1996 and 2011-the arch-rivals have been co-hosts. Given the&nbsp;protracted political discord between the two countries, what was the chemistry that made this possible? Amrit Mathur highlights the fascinating give-andtake between the two countries and the respective cricket boards-in clinching the right to host the 1996 World Cup. Winning the rights wasn't easy. It entailed countering the clout of the England, Australia, New Zealand caucus in the sport.&nbsp;Mathur, who fortuitously found a place in the Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka Joint Management Committee (PILCOM), relates that to win the rights, support of ICC's associate members became imperative. "To get associate ICC members on board, Indian-style election strategies were used. Various Indian and Pakistani origin people controlling cricket bodies were identified," he writes. This was followed by an emotional appeal that sought to give PILCOM'S bid an anti-colonial, antiracist angle. But that wasn't enough. Without putting more dosh than the other caucus on the table, the bid could have collapsed.
Mathur reveals the commercial payout, offering larger guarantees to associate members while simultaneously cutting back on the share for Test playing nations. PILCOM also offered ICC a larger slice. "The political reverse swing worked," he writes. The 1996 World Cup was hugely successful.&nbsp;The tournament also saw the arrival of cable TV coverage of cricket in India. This was through Mark Mascarenhas's WorldTel, marking&nbsp;a major inflection point and gradually leading to India becoming a multi-billiondollar cricketing nation.
Pitchside is replete with such anecdotes because of Mathur's off-beat career, which every now and then put him in extraordinary situations. Educated at Mayo College, Ajmer and St Stephen's, Delhi, he played cricket at the university level, which explains his passion for and understanding of the game. His primary vocation was with the Indian Railways, but he's a man of many parts who has worn several hats, with cricket at the core.&nbsp;Apart from being part of the 1996 World Cup organising committee, he was manager on the epochal tour of South Africa in 1992, shortly after Nelson Mandela was released from incarceration, manager of the team again in the 2003 World Cup, media manager when India toured Pakistan in 2004, and was associated with Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.
Mathur has also been a cricket writer for four decades, which is what makes this book a delectable read. His knowledge of the game is deep and astute.&nbsp;The sweep of his experiences in the game, as junior player, fan, administrator and journalist, stretches over four decades, from Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi to Virat Kohli and almost every player of consequence in between. Mathur has a keen eye for the unusual. Though part of several major events in modern Indian cricket, he refrains from making himself the subject matter, instead taking on the role of a non-intrusive participant. His journalistic skills come through in information-gathering, highlighting newsworthy episodes, and narrating them in an easy-on-the-ear prose, in a chatty style laced with colloquialisms.
Pitchside is not a linear book on cricket. It's a smorgasbord of experiences, anecdotes and trivia about modern Indian cricket's journey through the eyes of an outsider who frequently found himself on the inside!&nbsp;

An Insider's VIEW

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